Stop!
I yell to the bright eyed boy
Whose outstretched hands
Are within danger’s ploy
His small, anxious fingers
Wriggle, writhe & want
All the things he wants but can not

Stop!
I scream to the curly head
Who runs around my bed
Trying to jump & climb
& just have fun
But whose mom is too uptight
To allow him to run

Stop!
I beg to the chubby feet I chase
Who just had chocolate ice cream to taste
His lit up eyes open wide in wonder
At his mom’s yell that sounds like thunder
All he wanted to do with his sticky mouth
Is to rub it clean all over her white couch

Stop…
I whisper to his sleeping angelic face
Wondering where the day went; why it felt like such a waste
Yelling, screaming & begging tiny little hands
To stop touching everything within his grasp
His boyish ways will soon come to an end
His small chubby hands grow large with abandon
His tiny feet won’t run across the floor
They will soon be gone & out the door
Why do I realize at the end of the day
I don’t have much longer to cuddle him this way
And all that frustration will be gone in memory wisps
And I will miss his boyish antics & this tiny face I kiss.